Balliol looks up from the stream. "Did the rest of you see a toady hag in the stream? Sir. Talavar, is one of those hags you were talking about toadlike?"
Bugs then looked around for something to pick up and found a stick and a still green leaf. He picked them up. "Anyone up for some playing some Pooh Sticks to see if anything comes out of that water?" He waited until someone responds before dropping his acquisitions into the water.
Chaplley scratches one of his tusks. "Yeah, but I'd say it was less of a toady hag and more of a froggy prince. It's the crown that gives it away for me. And if pooh sticks means poking the water until something happens, then I'm down!"
Resmae turns to Chapley and Balliol with a stunned look on her face, "What are you two talking about?! Its a headless small scarecrow - the size of a child, and its trying on heads with it's metal lobster claw hands! Oh look, it decided on a large gourd. How are you not seeing this?" Resmae looks thoroughly puzzled and then looks at the stick Bugs is holding, "Sure, not sure what a pooh stick is, but if it gets rid of this, please do!"
"How funny is it that we are all seeing things in the water at the same time?" Halei says off-handedly. "What's a pooh stick? Can you show me how to use it?" Halei sets Sir Talavar down beside her and crouches down to sit by the water, sticking her barefeet just a little beneath the surface.
Some of you throw sticks into the stream and watch them as they float downstream. You watch them float into the distance. (Those of you participating in Balliol's "Pooh Sticks", please roll an Int. nature check. Highest roll wins).
"Did the rest of you see a toady hag in the stream? Sir. Talavar, is one of those hags you were talking about toad-like?" asks Balliol.
"Bavlorna! Did you see the foul wretch, young harengon?" comes Sir Talavar's reply. "Bavlorna Blightstraw is one of the three sisters, and Yes! She is remarkably toad-like. She can conjure minions that look like tiny versions of herself."
"Clapperclaw, he scarecrow!" exclaims Sir Talavar delightfully, responding to Resmae's description. "He is a friend worth knowing."
"The Stream of Visions! Some tell of the stream's ability to show glimpses of momentary events. Telemy Hill is close!" continues Sir Talavar. "Follow the stream. This way!" he says, pointing you toward a hill just coming into view a few miles ahead.
The weather is the finest you have seen since you arrived in Hither. Still misty and damp, swampy and muddy (except for this mysterious stream), but a little brighter.
Halei briefly cools her toes in the stream, and while they watch the sticks float down stream she turns and quietly asks Sir Talavar, not low enough that the others can't hear, but more thoughtful and curious than anything. "I saw a figure who kind of looked like a witch, with a pointy hat, cloak and everything. And their shadow could move without their body. Do you know who that could be?"
She also asks him if he'd like any water before they get moving.
Excited to play, Chapley runs off to some nearby trees. An oddly long time later, he comes back with a thick, 4 foot long branch. "Ready, set, go!" He hurls the branch like a javelin into the pond, where one end immediately lodges in the muddy bottom, causing the branch to protrude from the pond like a sundial. Chapley watches as his branch goes absolutely nowhere. "Okay, wait. What were the rules again?"
Balliol listened to Sir. Talavar. "Yes, she was getting water poured on her by little versions of herself. I guess I have seen her now, but I wish the vision had given us something more useful. But who knows, maybe in time we will find that it has."
With that he picked up a little stick and prepared to toss it into the stream with everyone for a quick game of Pooh Sticks on the stream.
The colour had drained from wildreds face and he felt quite horrified at what he saw an old kitchen wench wearing a crimson cap, a leather apron, and iron boots using a cleaver to chop meat in a drab kitchen.
What an awful sight..but was its significance everyone else seems to have seen something else entirely different...could it be Coven of Hags.
"We should go cautiously!"he tells everyone.
"It wouldn't suprise me if witches were abroad. Sir tavalar what do you know about Bavlorna Blightstraw and the Hourglass coven?....anything of any significance?"
Halei, you ask Sir Talavar... "I saw a figure who kind of looked like a witch, with a pointy hat, cloak and everything. And their shadow could move without their body. Do you know who that could be?"
"Hmm," Sir Talavar ponders your question briefly, "I've heard tell of scissors, created by one of the hags, that can be used to cut and detach a person's shadow from them. "
Sir Talavar, graciously accepts your offer of water. He slurps at it as if quite thirsty. This is the first time any of you have seen him act in any way other than nobly.
Wildred, you ask Sir Talavar... "It wouldn't surprise me if witches were abroad. Sir Tavalar, what do you know about Bavlorna Blightstraw and the Hourglass coven?....anything of any significance?"
"C'mon!" encourages Sir Talavar, "I will tell you what I know along the way."
As you travel, Sir Talavar shares the following.
"The Hourglass Coven is a group of three hags, Skabatha Nightshade, Bavlorna Blightstraw, and Endelyn Moongrave. They are the daughters of Baba Yaga. Each one is bound to an aspect of time: one reflects the past, another reflects the present, and the third reflects the future. The three became jealous when Iggwilv, Baba Yaga's adopted daughter, surpassed them in power and carved out a Feywild domain for herself in the guise of an archfey named Zybilna. The hags are utter wickedness distilled into corporeal forms, driven by a lust for secrets that can be used to manipulate their prey. The hags wormed their way into Zybilna's good graces, biding their time until they could wrest the domain from her clutches. They waited until she was lured away on an important matter to imbue Iggwilv's cauldron with the ability to freeze time. When she returned, the hags used this power to trap her and her court in temporal stasis. The hags then carved up Prismeer, splitting it between them."
Bugs listens to the faerie dragon talk carefully. "Bavlorna is the one that imprisoned you - was she the one who reflects the present? Or some other time? And does that allow her to do certain things with time? I can't say I like the sound of that." He continued to listen to the dragon's answers while doing his best to keep his eyes and ears open to dangers. "If all of the other daughters are evil, did this Iggwilv or Zybilna end up being good in someway? And where would we find this Zybilna now?"
When the discussion of hags was over Bugs had one more thing to add to the discussion. "In my vision I saw Bavlorna - the today hag that captured Sir. Talavar. She can make these little versions of herself that I saw in the vision. I'm not sure what it means, but I think I saw one of them in the crowd at the carnival. Like I said, I don't know what it means, but be aware."
Balliol, you continue your questions of Sir Talavar... "Bavlorna is the one that imprisoned you - was she the one who reflects the present? Or some other time? And does that allow her to do certain things with time? I can't say I like the sound of that."
"Oh yes," he replies, "she is my captor. She is the hag of the present, the here and now, the moment to moment. Her power is great. But her downfall, besides being her homes namesake, is her sisters. Their hatred for one another can be levered against them."
You ask about Zybilna. "If all of the other daughters are evil, did this Iggwilv or Zybilna end up being good in someway? And where would we find this Zybilna now?"
"I do not know Zybilna. My Summer Queen,Titania, sent me here to persuade her to ally with the Seelie Court against its hated enemies, the Fomorians. But upon my arrival, I found Primseer shattered and in this state of disarray. I was imprisoned shortly after."
Sir Talvar's banter has made the few miles to the hill feel like a shorter journey than expected. You find yourself upon the foot of the hill as it majestically protrudes above the swamp's mist. You are greeted by the scent of sweet-smelling fruit. Damp, downy, silvery-green moss blankets a gentle upward slope before giving way to a craggy ridge that marks the top of the hill. Dozens of enormous willow trees dot the hillside, swaying as though in a breeze despite the absence of one.
You pause at the base of the hill to take in the ambience.
"Mmm, you smell that fruit? I wonder what the fruit around here would taste like," Halei sniffs the air, and gazes at the willow trees. She's always thought willow trees were particularly pretty.
The more Bugs learned about the Feywild and its denizens the more questions he had for the little dragon. Before stopping at the hill he had more questions about Bavlorna. "What can a time hag do? The only thing we specifically know that she has done is put you in a cage and, I suppose, send some serpents in pursuit. Neither of those seem particularly time-based. What does it mean to 'reflect the present?' Do you have any idea what powers she might have?"
After hearing all of the dragon's answers and reaching the base of the hill there was more to ask. If you have a tour guide it seemed to make sense to make use of it. "It seems like it will be hard to form an alliance with a leader that is imprisoned. Perhaps, Sir. Talavar, we will continue to find ourselves allies in this situation. And now that we seem to be here, and here seems to be a lot nicer place, than most of this swamp, do you have any idea of what we will encounter here? Is Jingle Jangle likely to welcome visitors? Might they demand payment for opening your cage or helping our friend? Would you suggest we just walk up the hill?"
As Balliol and the fairy dragon talk, Resmae's head spins. There is so much that they are talking about, hags and Queens and a place called Prismeer that was apparently all broken? She didn't understand any of it. And wasn't she there to get replacement animals? That was her duty, not all this stuff. Her little rabbit face was getting all scrunched up in worry and concern. And she was just realizing she had no idea how to get home when they found the replacements!!
Trying to hold it all in as it would be rude to interrupt, she continues on with the rest, hoping that once Aros can talk, she will help her out. She was feeling a bit lost and overwhelmed. She leans down and hugs Sammy for a bit of reassurance.
Balliol, you continue your conversation with Sir Talavar.
"I don't rightly know Jingle Jangle." says Sir Talavar, "It was Wigglewog, who assisted me in my escape, that suggested she would be able to help liberate me from this cage." He continues, "This certainly looks like the place..."
Balliol and Sir Talavar's banter is interrupted as three towering willow trees approach the adventurers Stopping some ten feet away.
"Welcome!" speaks one of the trees in a deep and gentle voice.
"Uh, hello!" Halei greets the trees, and walks to get closer to them. She tilts her head back to look up at the tree tops so far above her, feeling a little extra small next to these tree beings. "Who are you?"
Wildred starts at the tree...he had heard of talking trees but never actually met one...
"How do you do? My name is wildred?"
He holds his hand out as if to shake the trees hand but then realises it is a tree he was speaking to so he puts his hand back down...the thought did cross his mind to shake his branch but thought better of it.
Like the others Balliol was not expecting walking and talking trees. He couldn't help thinking to himself that he was glad they were not weeping willows. That might have gotten sappy.
When Halei and Wildred stepped up and spoke to the newcomers Balliol just stood back and waved a little. He did wonder why Wildred seemed to be asking if his name was Wildred, but he was a wizard so such things happened. He waited to see how the tree's would respond.
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Balliol looks up from the stream. "Did the rest of you see a toady hag in the stream? Sir. Talavar, is one of those hags you were talking about toadlike?"
Bugs then looked around for something to pick up and found a stick and a still green leaf. He picked them up. "Anyone up for some playing some Pooh Sticks to see if anything comes out of that water?" He waited until someone responds before dropping his acquisitions into the water.
"Sir. Talavar - do we need to cross this stream?"
Chaplley scratches one of his tusks. "Yeah, but I'd say it was less of a toady hag and more of a froggy prince. It's the crown that gives it away for me. And if pooh sticks means poking the water until something happens, then I'm down!"
Resmae turns to Chapley and Balliol with a stunned look on her face, "What are you two talking about?! Its a headless small scarecrow - the size of a child, and its trying on heads with it's metal lobster claw hands! Oh look, it decided on a large gourd. How are you not seeing this?" Resmae looks thoroughly puzzled and then looks at the stick Bugs is holding, "Sure, not sure what a pooh stick is, but if it gets rid of this, please do!"
"How funny is it that we are all seeing things in the water at the same time?" Halei says off-handedly. "What's a pooh stick? Can you show me how to use it?" Halei sets Sir Talavar down beside her and crouches down to sit by the water, sticking her barefeet just a little beneath the surface.
Some of you throw sticks into the stream and watch them as they float downstream. You watch them float into the distance. (Those of you participating in Balliol's "Pooh Sticks", please roll an Int. nature check. Highest roll wins).
"Did the rest of you see a toady hag in the stream? Sir. Talavar, is one of those hags you were talking about toad-like?" asks Balliol.
"Bavlorna! Did you see the foul wretch, young harengon?" comes Sir Talavar's reply. "Bavlorna Blightstraw is one of the three sisters, and Yes! She is remarkably toad-like. She can conjure minions that look like tiny versions of herself."
"Clapperclaw, he scarecrow!" exclaims Sir Talavar delightfully, responding to Resmae's description. "He is a friend worth knowing."
"The Stream of Visions! Some tell of the stream's ability to show glimpses of momentary events. Telemy Hill is close!" continues Sir Talavar. "Follow the stream. This way!" he says, pointing you toward a hill just coming into view a few miles ahead.
The weather is the finest you have seen since you arrived in Hither. Still misty and damp, swampy and muddy (except for this mysterious stream), but a little brighter.
Halei briefly cools her toes in the stream, and while they watch the sticks float down stream she turns and quietly asks Sir Talavar, not low enough that the others can't hear, but more thoughtful and curious than anything. "I saw a figure who kind of looked like a witch, with a pointy hat, cloak and everything. And their shadow could move without their body. Do you know who that could be?"
She also asks him if he'd like any water before they get moving.
Nature: 0
Excited to play, Chapley runs off to some nearby trees. An oddly long time later, he comes back with a thick, 4 foot long branch. "Ready, set, go!" He hurls the branch like a javelin into the pond, where one end immediately lodges in the muddy bottom, causing the branch to protrude from the pond like a sundial. Chapley watches as his branch goes absolutely nowhere. "Okay, wait. What were the rules again?"
Balliol listened to Sir. Talavar. "Yes, she was getting water poured on her by little versions of herself. I guess I have seen her now, but I wish the vision had given us something more useful. But who knows, maybe in time we will find that it has."
With that he picked up a little stick and prepared to toss it into the stream with everyone for a quick game of Pooh Sticks on the stream.
Nature Roll: 17
"I guess we keep moving. Jingle Jangle awaits."
The colour had drained from wildreds face and he felt quite horrified at what he saw an old kitchen wench wearing a crimson cap, a leather apron, and iron boots using a cleaver to chop meat in a drab kitchen.
What an awful sight..but was its significance everyone else seems to have seen something else entirely different...could it be Coven of Hags.
"We should go cautiously!"he tells everyone.
"It wouldn't suprise me if witches were abroad. Sir tavalar what do you know about Bavlorna Blightstraw and the Hourglass coven?....anything of any significance?"
Balliol's pooh stick wins the race.
Halei, you ask Sir Talavar... "I saw a figure who kind of looked like a witch, with a pointy hat, cloak and everything. And their shadow could move without their body. Do you know who that could be?"
"Hmm," Sir Talavar ponders your question briefly, "I've heard tell of scissors, created by one of the hags, that can be used to cut and detach a person's shadow from them. "
Sir Talavar, graciously accepts your offer of water. He slurps at it as if quite thirsty. This is the first time any of you have seen him act in any way other than nobly.
Wildred, you ask Sir Talavar... "It wouldn't surprise me if witches were abroad. Sir Tavalar, what do you know about Bavlorna Blightstraw and the Hourglass coven?....anything of any significance?"
"C'mon!" encourages Sir Talavar, "I will tell you what I know along the way."
As you travel, Sir Talavar shares the following.
"The Hourglass Coven is a group of three hags, Skabatha Nightshade, Bavlorna Blightstraw, and Endelyn Moongrave. They are the daughters of Baba Yaga. Each one is bound to an aspect of time: one reflects the past, another reflects the present, and the third reflects the future. The three became jealous when Iggwilv, Baba Yaga's adopted daughter, surpassed them in power and carved out a Feywild domain for herself in the guise of an archfey named Zybilna. The hags are utter wickedness distilled into corporeal forms, driven by a lust for secrets that can be used to manipulate their prey. The hags wormed their way into Zybilna's good graces, biding their time until they could wrest the domain from her clutches. They waited until she was lured away on an important matter to imbue Iggwilv's cauldron with the ability to freeze time. When she returned, the hags used this power to trap her and her court in temporal stasis. The hags then carved up Prismeer, splitting it between them."
Bugs listens to the faerie dragon talk carefully. "Bavlorna is the one that imprisoned you - was she the one who reflects the present? Or some other time? And does that allow her to do certain things with time? I can't say I like the sound of that." He continued to listen to the dragon's answers while doing his best to keep his eyes and ears open to dangers. "If all of the other daughters are evil, did this Iggwilv or Zybilna end up being good in some way? And where would we find this Zybilna now?"
When the discussion of hags was over Bugs had one more thing to add to the discussion. "In my vision I saw Bavlorna - the today hag that captured Sir. Talavar. She can make these little versions of herself that I saw in the vision. I'm not sure what it means, but I think I saw one of them in the crowd at the carnival. Like I said, I don't know what it means, but be aware."
Balliol, you continue your questions of Sir Talavar... "Bavlorna is the one that imprisoned you - was she the one who reflects the present? Or some other time? And does that allow her to do certain things with time? I can't say I like the sound of that."
"Oh yes," he replies, "she is my captor. She is the hag of the present, the here and now, the moment to moment. Her power is great. But her downfall, besides being her homes namesake, is her sisters. Their hatred for one another can be levered against them."
You ask about Zybilna. "If all of the other daughters are evil, did this Iggwilv or Zybilna end up being good in someway? And where would we find this Zybilna now?"
"I do not know Zybilna. My Summer Queen, Titania, sent me here to persuade her to ally with the Seelie Court against its hated enemies, the Fomorians. But upon my arrival, I found Primseer shattered and in this state of disarray. I was imprisoned shortly after."
Sir Talvar's banter has made the few miles to the hill feel like a shorter journey than expected. You find yourself upon the foot of the hill as it majestically protrudes above the swamp's mist. You are greeted by the scent of sweet-smelling fruit. Damp, downy, silvery-green moss blankets a gentle upward slope before giving way to a craggy ridge that marks the top of the hill. Dozens of enormous willow trees dot the hillside, swaying as though in a breeze despite the absence of one.
You pause at the base of the hill to take in the ambience.
"Mmm, you smell that fruit? I wonder what the fruit around here would taste like," Halei sniffs the air, and gazes at the willow trees. She's always thought willow trees were particularly pretty.
The more Bugs learned about the Feywild and its denizens the more questions he had for the little dragon. Before stopping at the hill he had more questions about Bavlorna. "What can a time hag do? The only thing we specifically know that she has done is put you in a cage and, I suppose, send some serpents in pursuit. Neither of those seem particularly time-based. What does it mean to 'reflect the present?' Do you have any idea what powers she might have?"
After hearing all of the dragon's answers and reaching the base of the hill there was more to ask. If you have a tour guide it seemed to make sense to make use of it. "It seems like it will be hard to form an alliance with a leader that is imprisoned. Perhaps, Sir. Talavar, we will continue to find ourselves allies in this situation. And now that we seem to be here, and here seems to be a lot nicer place, than most of this swamp, do you have any idea of what we will encounter here? Is Jingle Jangle likely to welcome visitors? Might they demand payment for opening your cage or helping our friend? Would you suggest we just walk up the hill?"
As Balliol and the fairy dragon talk, Resmae's head spins. There is so much that they are talking about, hags and Queens and a place called Prismeer that was apparently all broken? She didn't understand any of it. And wasn't she there to get replacement animals? That was her duty, not all this stuff. Her little rabbit face was getting all scrunched up in worry and concern. And she was just realizing she had no idea how to get home when they found the replacements!!
Trying to hold it all in as it would be rude to interrupt, she continues on with the rest, hoping that once Aros can talk, she will help her out. She was feeling a bit lost and overwhelmed. She leans down and hugs Sammy for a bit of reassurance.
Balliol, you continue your conversation with Sir Talavar.
"I don't rightly know Jingle Jangle." says Sir Talavar, "It was Wigglewog, who assisted me in my escape, that suggested she would be able to help liberate me from this cage." He continues, "This certainly looks like the place..."
Balliol and Sir Talavar's banter is interrupted as three towering willow trees approach the adventurers Stopping some ten feet away.
"Welcome!" speaks one of the trees in a deep and gentle voice.
"Uh, hello!" Halei greets the trees, and walks to get closer to them. She tilts her head back to look up at the tree tops so far above her, feeling a little extra small next to these tree beings. "Who are you?"
Wildred starts at the tree...he had heard of talking trees but never actually met one...
"How do you do? My name is wildred?"
He holds his hand out as if to shake the trees hand but then realises it is a tree he was speaking to so he puts his hand back down...the thought did cross his mind to shake his branch but thought better of it.
"Welcome to where? Might I ask?"
Like the others Balliol was not expecting walking and talking trees. He couldn't help thinking to himself that he was glad they were not weeping willows. That might have gotten sappy.
When Halei and Wildred stepped up and spoke to the newcomers Balliol just stood back and waved a little. He did wonder why Wildred seemed to be asking if his name was Wildred, but he was a wizard so such things happened. He waited to see how the tree's would respond.